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Shanti Panchal: Ragas of the Dawn

Past exhibition
21 October 2016 - 5 January 2017 Piano Nobile
  • Summary
  • Works
  • Press
Summary
Shanti Panchal, Ragas of the Dawn

Shanti Panchal: Ragas of the Dawn presented a collection of exquisite watercolours by Shanti Panchal, subtle yet evocative paintings chronicling the spectrum of human relations and emotions with restrained expressivity. Combining personal symbolism with a universal spirituality, Panchal captures the melodious quality of a raga in paint through harmonious colours and lyrical compositions.

 

Panchal was born in the mid-to-late 1950s in the Indian village of Mesar in northern Gujurat. Leaving his village as a young teenager for further schooling in Mumbai, he then progressed to studies at the Sir JJ School of Art. Panchal first came to London on a British Council Scholarship in 1978 and made the city his home. An émigré artist traversing continents, Panchal’s work is inspired both by Indian miniaturist painting and Buddhist and Jain frescoes, and by Western influences including Mark Rothko and Francis Bacon.

 

Throughout the course of his career, Panchal has received international recognition through numerous awards including the BP Portrait Award, First Prize for the Singer & Friedlander/Sunday Times watercolour competition, and, most recently, the Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize in 2015. His work is held in numerous public collections including the Imperial War Museum, the Arts Council, and the British Museum. Significant solo exhibitions have included a touring Arts Council Exhibition, the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, and a British Council exhibition in Mumbai.

 

Both large and domestically intimate in scale, Panchal’s paintings call to his earliest childhood memories through colour: “ochres and reds and browns, all sand and mud-wall huts with red tiles”, “monumental skies”, “deep, dark nights and burning days”. Panchal saturates hand-made paper with these rich, vibrant colours of red, pink, orange and yellow through infusing the paper with many layers of watercolour and scraping back until the surface and colour become one, a meditative and evolving process.

 

The simplicity of Panchal’s work belies the intensity of his working process: his watercolours appear timeless, suspended in quiet moments. And yet, despite this sense of constancy, an enigmatic nostalgia pervades his work, a longing for homelands left and memories past.  

 

 

 

Shanti Panchal: Ragas of the Dawn was featured on inbound BA flights into London in October 2016. Watch the clip below: 

 

 

 

 

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Works
  • Shanti Panchal, The Dialogue, 2016
    Shanti Panchal, The Dialogue, 2016
  • Shanti Panchal, Life Class, 2015
    Shanti Panchal, Life Class, 2015
  • Shanti Panchal, Admiration, 2007
    Shanti Panchal, Admiration, 2007
  • Shanti Panchal, Autumn, 2007
    Shanti Panchal, Autumn, 2007
  • Shanti Panchal, Boy's Rescue, Nepal, 2015
    Shanti Panchal, Boy's Rescue, Nepal, 2015
  • Shanti Panchal, Frida at Tate Modern, 2005
    Shanti Panchal, Frida at Tate Modern, 2005
  • Shanti Panchal, Mirror 2, 2016
    Shanti Panchal, Mirror 2, 2016
  • Shanti Panchal, Mirror 1, 2016
    Shanti Panchal, Mirror 1, 2016
  • Shanti Panchal, Mother and Child, Nepal, 2015
    Shanti Panchal, Mother and Child, Nepal, 2015
  • Shanti Panchal, On Stairs, 2013
    Shanti Panchal, On Stairs, 2013
  • Shanti Panchal, Purple Shawl, 2014
    Shanti Panchal, Purple Shawl, 2014
  • Shanti Panchal, Resurrection, 1996
    Shanti Panchal, Resurrection, 1996
  • Shanti Panchal, Still-life, 2013
    Shanti Panchal, Still-life, 2013
  • Shanti Panchal, The Balcony, 2014
    Shanti Panchal, The Balcony, 2014
  • Shanti Panchal, The Beach, 2009
    Shanti Panchal, The Beach, 2009
  • Shanti Panchal, The Blade (Altered Destiny), 2013
    Shanti Panchal, The Blade (Altered Destiny), 2013
  • Shanti Panchal, The Campus, 2013
    Shanti Panchal, The Campus, 2013
  • Shanti Panchal, The Flame, 2013
    Shanti Panchal, The Flame, 2013
  • Shanti Panchal, The Jain Monks, 2008
    Shanti Panchal, The Jain Monks, 2008
  • Shanti Panchal, The Judgement, 1997-8
    Shanti Panchal, The Judgement, 1997-8
  • Shanti Panchal, The Last Orders, 2012
    Shanti Panchal, The Last Orders, 2012
  • Shanti Panchal, The Loft, 2010
    Shanti Panchal, The Loft, 2010
  • Shanti Panchal, The Robe, 2010
    Shanti Panchal, The Robe, 2010
  • Shanti Panchal, The Singer, 2016
    Shanti Panchal, The Singer, 2016
  • Shanti Panchal, The Tragedy, after Picasso, 1999
    Shanti Panchal, The Tragedy, after Picasso, 1999
  • Shanti Panchal, Watering Can, 2014
    Shanti Panchal, Watering Can, 2014
  • Shanti Panchal, Watering Can-Green, 2009
    Shanti Panchal, Watering Can-Green, 2009
  • Shanti Panchal, Watering Cans, 2014
    Shanti Panchal, Watering Cans, 2014
  • Shanti Panchal, Young Model, 2015
    Shanti Panchal, Young Model, 2015
  • Shanti Panchal, Youth Skating, 2016
    Shanti Panchal, Youth Skating, 2016
Press
  • John Evans reviews Shanti Panchal: Ragas of the Dawn

    John Evans reviews Shanti Panchal: Ragas of the Dawn

    The Islington Tribune October 24, 2016
    Shanti Panchal: Ragas of the Dawn has been featured in The Islington Tribune newspaper, topping the bill of John Evans' arts section. Evans describes Panchal's...
    Read more

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  • Shanti Panchal

    Shanti Panchal

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